Ellicott City Train Derailment In 2012 Caused By Broken Rail

Ellicott City Train Derailment In 2012 Caused By Broken Rail

The train derailment is investigated as daylight breaks in Ellicott City (Photo by WBAL's John Patti)

Rose Mayr was about to start her junior year at the University of Delaware. (Mount Hebron High School Yearbook photo)

Elizabeth Nass (Yearbook photo)

The National Transportation Safety Board says a broken rail caused a coal train derailment in 2012 that killed two teens who were sitting on a railroad bridge in Ellicott City.

The NTSB on Thursday released a 19-page report on the results of its investigation. The derailment of the CSX train on Aug. 20, 2012 killed Rose Mayr and Elizabeth Nass, both 19. They were buried in coal when the train derailed.

The NTSB's report says an investigation revealed that a section of rail that caused the derailment showed evidence of a gradual breakdown. Since the accident, CSX has installed a fence to keep people off the bridge.

Read the original press release below:

The derailment of a CSX coal train on a railroad bridge in Ellicott City, Md., on August 20, 2012 was caused by a broken rail with evidence of rolling contact fatigue, the National Transportation Board said today.

Tragically, two people who were sitting on a CSX bridge were killed when coal spilled out of the rail cars during the derailment, which occurred shortly before midnight in downtown Ellicott City. The presence in the rail right-of-way of the two fatally injured persons, whose unauthorized access placed them in harm's way, did not contribute to the derailment in any way.

Of the 80 cars in the train, the first 21 derailed, with seven falling into a parking lot below the track. The train had been traveling 23 m.p.h. – below the speed limit for that section of track.

The NTSB investigation found that the point of derailment was a rail fracture several hundred feet before the bridge. The section of rail, which was examined in the NTSB's materials laboratory in Washington, showed evidence of rolling contact fatigue, a gradual breakdown of the rail-head surface.

As a result of this and earlier accidents investigated by the NTSB, the Federal Railroad Administration established a Rail Failure Working Group to study the effects of rail-head wear and resulting rail surface conditions. Its recommendations were adopted by the Rail Safety Advisory Committee in April.

According to Operation Lifesaver, 476 pedestrian rail trespass fatalities occurred nationwide in 2013. After the Ellicott City derailment, CSX installed a chain-link fence along the right-of-way downtown in an attempt to deter future trespassing on the Ellicott City railroad bridge.

The NTSB will also hold a public forum next year to explore and educate the public about the dangers associated with unauthorized individuals in the railroad right-of-way.